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From one of the men who got kidnapped...
To all,
I'm writing you from St. Margarets hostel in Nazareth to tell you that I'm
fine and unhurt. The president of my university insisted that all western
teachers leave until things "calm down," although I feel that our evacuation
was unnecessary.
I was abducted by about 15 young men with machine guns and pistols as I was
leaving the university yesterday. We had been warned about an hour earlier
by campus security that there might be reprisals against westerners due to
the Israeli attack on a prison in Jericho. The Americans and British had
agreed to help safeguard the Palestinian political prisoner Ahmad Sadaat,
but when the Israelis came to take him, the Americans and Brits walked away,
leaving the Palestinian police and prison guards to battle it out with the
Israelis. Several people were killed in the fighting.
For some in Palestine, this betrayal was the last straw. The US has
financed the Israeli military occupation almost from the beginning and
continues to support Israel's numerous violations of UN Resolutions,
including Resolutions 194, 242, and 338. The military enchroachment into
Palestinian land and lives has been relentless and brutal, and the people
here now find themselves imprisoned within a wall that surrounds most of the
West Bank, and some cities entirely.
Furthermore, movement inside the walls is severely restricted and most
people inside the Jenin district are confined here unless they go through
tons of red tape to get permission from Israel to travel. Even within the
confines of Jenin there are dozens of permanent checkpoints and many more
"floating checkpoints" that can pop up anywhere and turn a 15 minute drive
into an 8 hour ordeal. This happens day after day after day. It's rare
that I don't have students who show up late or don't show up at all because
of checkpoints.
During "closures" entire cities are shut down, the roads to and from the
city are blocked, and even leaving your home is prohibited, sometimes for
months at a time - except for an hour or two a week to get food. These
daily restrictions have disrupted every aspect of Palestinians' lives.
Israeli soldiers roaming Palestinian streets keep kids from going to school
and adults from going to work. The economy is destroyed and the employment
rate is through the roof.
Naturally, the reaction here ranges from frustration to desperation to rage.
Does that suprise anyone? Similar restrictions in America imposed by a
foreign power would elicit a similar range of reactions. If a neighboring
government built a wall around Louisville Kentucky and told Louisvillians
when they can and can't leave, some would hold candles on a street corner
while others would pick up arms. This is human nature. The young men who
abducted me probably felt they had no other recourse because nobody will
listen to them otherwise. Is that so hard to understand?
I'm not going to talk about the blow by blow account of the abduction. The
bottom line is that I walked away that day while several poor souls perished
in Jericho while fighting for their freedom and rights. Why is it a "story"
if some white American has a gun pointed to his head when so many others of
"color" died yesterday in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine? Why doesn't CNN
call to interview their grieving families?
The leader of Al Aqsa personally intervened to help me, rode in the backseat
of a car with me as he took me back to the university, and then apologized
publicly at AAUJ to the president and the full body of foreign teachers.
When has George Bush ever apologized? Don't hold your breath.
I feel safe in Palestine, and I invite anyone who reads this to walk a mile
in the shoes of a Palestinian. Come here and see for yourself what I'm
talking about. Trust me, you won't ever see what I see on CNN.
Doug Johnson
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